1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of men's wallets which can fit into a pocket of a man's trousers or fit into the inside pocket of a jacket and which has means to retain business cards.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following eighteen (18) patents and published patent applications are relevant to the field of the present invention.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 286,650 issued to Talcott on Oct. 16, 1883 for “Combination Pocket Case” (hereafter the “Talcott patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 22,417 issued to Scheuer on May 9, 1893 for “Pocket Book” (hereafter the “Scheuer patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,260 issued to Osher on May 27, 1969 for “Card Holder For Wallets” (hereafter the “Osher patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,168 issued to Ganz on Nov. 21, 1978 for “Multi-Purpose Pocket-Size Carrying Case” (hereafter the “Ganz patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,703 issued to Bernard on Apr. 25, 1989 for “Leather Of Fabric Article Incorporating An Attached Trimming” (hereafter the “Bernard patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,793 issued to DiMeo on Sep. 26, 1995 “Business Card Case” (hereafter the “DiMeo patent”);
7. U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,276 issued to Niemberger on Aug. 5, 1997 for “Combination Wallet And Billfold” (hereafter the “Niemberger patent”);
8. U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,954 issued to Sullivan on Jul. 14, 1998 for “Wallet/Pocket Knife Holder” (hereafter the “Sullivan patent”);
9. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 404,566 issued to Archer on Jan. 26, 1999 for “Business Card Holder And Dispenser” (hereafter the “Archer patent”);
10. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 433,804 issued to Kojoori on Nov. 21, 2000 for “Bifold Front Pocket Wallet” (hereafter the “Kojoori patent”);
11. U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,989 B1 issued to Masoud on Jun. 5, 2001 for “Business Card Holder And Dispenser” (hereafter the “Masoud patent”);
12. U.S. Pat. No. D435,965 S issued to Kim on Jan. 9, 2001 for “Wallet With Key Holding Cavity” (hereafter the “Kim patent”);
13. U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,236 B2 issued to Gribovsky on Aug. 20, 2002 for “Money Clip” (hereafter the “Gribovsky patent”);
14. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0154714 A1 to Gray on Aug. 12, 2004 for “Combination Wallet And Tool Holder” (hereafter the “Gray Published patent application”);
15. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0216825 A1 to Radochonski on Nov. 4, 2004 for “Combination. Wallet, Timepiece And Money Clip” (hereafter the “Radochonski Published patent application”);
16. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0046173 A1 to Hall on Mar. 3, 2005 for “Body With Outer Detachable Pouch” (hereafter the “Hall Published patent application”);
17. UK Patent Application No. GB 2,393,640 A to Huang on Jul. 4, 2004 for “Wallet Or Cover And Holder For Electronic Handheld Apparatus” (hereafter the “Huang patent”);
18. Japanese Patent Application 200050935 for “Card Case or the Like with Clip and the Clip” by inventor Uno Keiichi (hereafter the “Keiichi patent”)/
The Talcott patent discloses a combination pocket case that has various pockets to carry different objects such as matches, railway tickets etc. Area A where enables tickets to be placed on the outside of the combination pocket case.
The Scheuer patent is a design patent which discloses a pocket book which includes a box like Figure A arranged on the outer side of the pocket book B. The inner side C and bottom D of the box-like Figure A are irregular in contour to give a flexible and loose effect in sharp contrast to the rigid face of the side of the pocket book B. The device is used with a lady's pocket book.
The Osher patent which issued in 1969 discloses a card holder for wallets which includes the clear plastic material sections which can be used to hold credit cards etc. The transparent flat sections 16 coact with the support portions 23 to define or provide pockets or pouches 16 for receiving photographs or cards such as the cards 17 and 18.
The Ganz patent discloses a carrying case which has an expandable compartment 17 attached to the exterior side of the center compartment 12 and this compartment is intended for storing miscellaneous items. The compartment 17 comprises a piece of material attached by stitching to the face of the section 12 and pleats 18, 19 are provided to permit expansion of the compartment to accommodate the desired articles. A cover flap 20 is provided with a snap fastener (not visible) for enabling ready opening and closing of the compartment.
The Bernard patent discloses a billfold showing flaps 1 and 2 of the billfold of FIG. 2 which comprise an outer wall 7 and an inner wall 8 referred to as “lining” joined together. The outer wall 7 and the lining 8 are joined by stitching along their edges. Before stitching the outer wall 7 to the lining 8, and for the purposes of fitting the corner region 3 of the flap 1 with a metal corner, a metal plate 9 is stuck in this region against the face of the lining 8 situated facing the wall 7.
The DiMeo patent is a business card case and is basically a stand-alone business card case. The innovation of the DiMeo patent is that it includes a shallow front lip for retaining the bottom edge of a stack of business cards and a hinge-mounted plate which is operative for lifting the top edge of a stack of business cards upwardly when the cover is opened so that the top card may be easily removed.
The Niemberger patent discloses a combination wallet and billfold which incorporates a money clip 32 into the face of the wallet and a strap 70 so that the strap can wrap around the money clip to further secure the bills in the money clip.
The Sullivan patent discloses a combination of a wallet and a pocket knife holder where the wallet has a plurality of sections which overlie each other when the wallet is folded. One of the sections has a pocket which removably frictionally receives a pocket knife.
The Archer patent is a design patent for a business card holder and dispenser which essentially is an ornamental designed business card holder where the business cards are held within the slot with the business card shown in the elevated position in dotted lines in FIG. 1.
The Kojoori patent is a design patent that discloses the concept of having a wallet with a billfold clip on the outside to hold paper currency as illustrated in the view of FIGS. 9 and 10. There is a spring hinge activated billfold clip as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 which support currency against the outside of the wallet.
The Masoud patent discloses a business card holder and dispenser which claims as its unique feature the ability to hold a large number of business cards while the nature of the mechanism in the business card dispenser enables the business cards to be easily removed and further, the device itself is small enough to fit in the pocket.
The Kim patent is a design patent where the innovation is that the wallet has a key holding cavity formed into the outside of the wallet so it is easy to gain access to the key from the outside of the wallet.
The Gribovsky patent discloses a money clip which essentially folds like a wallet and has an outer pocket 36 stitched to the outside with an opening 42 which can carry money. There is also a spring clip member 24 which can hold bills within the money clip.
The Gray Published patent application discloses a combination wallet and tool holder which carries wallet contents including credit cards, identification cards, business cards and money adjacent to a tool preventing the overlapping of the tool and the wallet contents.
The Radochonski Published patent application discloses the inclusion of having a watch attached to one face of the exterior portion of the wallet and a money clip attached to the opposite face of the exterior portion of a wallet.
The Hall Published patent application discloses a three ring binder notebook which has a front cover which has a generally flat planar outer surface having a pouch to hold items such as pencils and pens.
The United Kingdom Patent to Huang discloses a wallet or cover and holder for an electronic handheld apparatus. It is a wallet to hold the handheld apparatus which as illustrated in the dashed lines can be held on one face of the wallet. The wallet also has interior slits for holding credit cards.
Finally, the Japanese Patent Application to Keiichi discloses a clip to enable attachment of a business card case or commuter ticket card case to a pocket of clothing so that it will not slip down into the pocket.
There is a significant need for a man's wallet that is designed to also retain a business card holder.